Positively Positive

This past week POSITIVE has been attacking me from all sides. A friend sent me a book by Joel Zeff, Make The Right Choice, Creating a Positive, Innovative and Productive Work Life. His premise is that we all need Positive Support. He walks through several examples of how to give positive support in the workplace. Chapter Five is my favorite. He states that Fun, Passion and Happiness are choices. The onus is on the individual. Challenges and frustrations pop up. It is how we deal with them that makes a difference.

On Thursday, my sister invited me to a book signing. Title of the book is Profit from the Positive: Proven Leadership Strategies to Boost Productivity and Transform Your Business. There it is again! Is this synchronicity or is the world going positively positive? One of the authors, Margaret Greenberg, talked the talk and walked the walk. She was vivacious and warm as she gave a short explanation of positive psychology and her career as a business coach.

My brain churned all that I had learned. Was all this positive energy going to fry it? I needed real life examples, not theories and empty promises. Again, I asked and the universe provided. The best teachers were standing in front of me, two boys, ages 12 and 10, who are my idols. They swim competitively, having learned at a young age about hard work, discipline, winning and losing. Swimming is an individual sport. There is no passing the buck. The will to dig deep resides within whether the ranking is twenty-sixth or first.

Last weekend I had the pleasure to witness the 4 day Eastern Zone 2013 Long Course Age Group Championship in Richmond, VA. The pool area was packed with children from New England, Tri-state and Mid-Atlantic regions. Each child endured hours of waiting to swim one or two events per day that would last 30 seconds to 4 minutes, depending on the event. The positive energy from the children and the parents in the balcony was electrifying.

After the meet, I spent three days with my special heroes. With all the intensity it takes to be a child athlete and student, there is always room for play. Life is fun! It is loaded with games, not just electronic and board games developed to entertain. There are the ones that come to mind when trapped in a car for a long trip. “I’m thinking of a number….” or “Twenty questions” or “Let’s see how many states we can see on license plates” or “Let’s go through the alphabet picking letters from signs along the highway” and my favorite, “Let’s look for Mustangs, convertibles, PT Cruisers, motorcycles, etc.”

As stated in the Nike logo, “Just do it” and have fun at the same time. Let the inner child out. I am Positively Positive that is the path to happiness.